"Erza, I'm guessing Gray and Natsu are definitely over by the small river. Go take a look."
Although he was extremely speechless inside, Moen still made the correct decision. He first found a way to send little Erza away.
"Right! Why didn't I think of that?! Thank you, Moen!"
Little Erza clapped her hands, looking very convinced.
Natsu and Gray often ran to the small river in town to duel. Looking for them there was basically a guaranteed hit.
After thanking Moen, little Erza quickly ran off. She had been searching for those two idiots for so long—she was finally going to find them!
"…"
Seeing Moen's actions, Lucy and Erza exchanged looks. Even though little Erza had been sent away, they didn't feel relieved—instead, their worry deepened.
"You two ladies… the guild insignias on your bodies, it's really hard for me to pretend I didn't see them. They definitely don't look like something you drew yourselves."
Under Lucy and Erza's worried gazes, Moen slowly spoke, saying something that made both women freeze.
"Uh…"
Erza's gaze fell on the pink emblem on the back of Lucy's right hand.
"Uh…"
Lucy's gaze fell on the dark-gray emblem on Erza's left shoulder.
"Could you please explain? This is for the sake of Fairy Tail's reputation. Using Fairy Tail's name to do bad things would earn very severe punishment."
Moen continued slowly, giving Lucy and Erza plenty of time to think.
Go on, make something up. I want to see how ridiculous your excuse is going to be.
Moen thought to himself. He genuinely wanted to see what kind of absurd story these two would come up with.
"Sorry! Brother Moen, we're both die-hard fans of Fairy Tail! That's why we specially put on these guild marks. We weren't trying to impersonate Fairy Tail wizards!"
Under Moen's scrutiny, Lucy bowed at a full ninety degrees and apologized sincerely—but the words that came out in her panic made Moen's expression freeze completely.
"…"
Beside her, Erza looked completely dead inside.
There was no denying that habits were really hard to overcome. She and Lucy had already exposed themselves several times.
And when Lucy realized what she had just said, her expression instantly turned ashen.
"You two… especially you."
Moen opened his mouth, and finally looked toward the cat-eared Erza. He really didn't recognize the other one at all.
"Are you… Erza?"
Moen's single question made the whole atmosphere fall silent.
At this moment, Lucy and Erza both wore expressions of "So it really happened," "Let the world end, I'm tired," and "It'd be weird not to get exposed." Their feelings were complicated—shocked, yet somehow accepting it.
"Erza after growing up? That should be right, shouldn't it?"
Moen continued. He chose to tear the veil off completely. Honestly, to complete this mission, he really couldn't imagine how he was supposed to do it without exposing their identities.
He couldn't just wait around doing nothing. Even though Natsu, Gray, and Erza were important characters according to the Saint Seiya System, and wouldn't likely be ruined by something like this, Moen wasn't willing to gamble.
He would rather make mistakes than do nothing.
Compared to that, doing nothing would definitely make him regret it more.
"Y-you—you—why would you say that?!"
Erza stammered, still trying desperately to struggle, unwilling to admit her identity just like that.
"First of all, you look exactly alike. Isn't that obvious? Second, those slip-ups in your answers… I honestly don't know how anyone is supposed to believe you two."
Moen complained. He genuinely hadn't expected grown-up Erza to be just as scatterbrained as when she was a kid—every part of her screamed "unreliable."
Of course, it might just be because things happened too suddenly. If Erza had enough time to prepare, she probably wouldn't be like this.
The future Fairy Tail didn't seem to have any major problems either—Erza's personality was almost exactly the same, meaning she clearly hadn't gone through any traumatic events.
"…"
Erza and Lucy went silent again.
They looked at each other, both seeing helplessness in the other's eyes.
"It really is you, Moen."
Erza sighed, as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders. She felt emotional—Moen really was still Moen.
"No wonder you're the author of Detective Folmos!"
Lucy couldn't help blurting out a sigh of admiration—once again saying something that made Moen's eyelid twitch.
"Detective Folmos… Is that what I named the book?"
Moen asked, speechless.
He had to admit, he was writing a book right now—and it was a modified version of Sherlock Holmes.
But the title Detective Folmos… it really made him lose composure. Using a pun as the title? Seriously?
Still… the more he thought about it, the more he actually liked it. The title was basically a personal joke that only he would understand. Others wouldn't get why the name was funny.
"Ah?!"
Lucy covered her mouth and gasped.
"You haven't decided on the title yet?!"
Lucy asked with a pained expression. She really didn't mean it—she thought Moen had already settled on the title long ago.
"Uh, no need to apologize. I think the title is great."
Moen said with a smile, giving Lucy an answer that left her stunned.
Wait… does that mean… the name Detective Folmos was actually my idea?!
Lucy froze, her emotions surging wildly. She fell into a strange daze, her mind completely occupied by this revelation.
"Lucy! Wake up! Did you forget what I said?! We can't interfere with the past too much!"
Only after Erza shook her hard did Lucy gradually regain clarity. Her excitement faded, replaced by a wave of dread.
"I—I didn't mean to!"
Lucy held her head, looking like she had committed a serious crime.
"No need to be that nervous. That title is something I really would've thought of."
Seeing Lucy's state, Moen comforted her. He wasn't joking—this was absolutely the kind of title only he would ever come up with.
"So… you two really are from the future, right?"
After calming her down, Moen spoke again. Now they could finally speak openly.
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